Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
I believe that their reaction to realising that Ria wasn't a lesbian was something along the lines of:
"Wait... what? What do you mean she isn't a lesbian? B-b-but she has to be!!! I mean, w-w-we all assumed that she w-w-was one!!! All our plans were based on her being one!! What the fuck do we do now!!!!!"
As for the current news, I think their response will follow a similar path to the following:
Landtag members (looking sickly) in public: "Congratulations, Your Majesty. This is great news! We're sure the people will rejoice at this news."
Landtag members in private: "NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! WHY, OH GOD, HAST THOU FORSAKEN US?!"
Kiki: "Huh, it is spring. When did that happen?"
Kiki's baby: "It's spring? Time to hit that big red button."
Kiki (suddenly realising that she's had a backache and mild cramping for a while now): "Oh, shit."
With the death of the Emperor of China, Chiang Kai-shek, and General Sun, and the possible "Involuntary Retirement" of General Pan, there is the possibility that the end of the Civil War in China could be near.
What is needed is someone that is acceptable to both the Northern and Southern Factions to lead a reunified China.
IOTL Chiang Kai-shek's son, Chiang Ching-kuo was sent to Shanghai to fight corruption there, and he was very effective in doing so, ITTL he could be one of the few members of his father's inner circle who has been cracking down on corruption that has plagued the KMT in both IOTL and ITTL which has led to The Second (or Third) Chinese Civil War.
Chiang Ching-kuo IOTL as the successor to his father as the President of the ROC fought corruption and brought in the native Han population of Tiawan into the government, while easing out the members of the KMT who came with Chiang Kai-shek after the victory of the CCP.
With the end of the Civil War and a stable government, China would be a magnet for investments by international corporations seeking both new markets to sell and a place for manufactures to open plants employing workers at low pay.
The price for all of that is going to be land reform so that China can feed itself, a continuing fight against corruption, formal recognition of the independence of Tibet, and most importantly a final Peace Treaty with Korea.
What is needed is someone that is acceptable to both the Northern and Southern Factions to lead a reunified China.
IOTL Chiang Kai-shek's son, Chiang Ching-kuo was sent to Shanghai to fight corruption there, and he was very effective in doing so, ITTL he could be one of the few members of his father's inner circle who has been cracking down on corruption that has plagued the KMT in both IOTL and ITTL which has led to The Second (or Third) Chinese Civil War.
Chiang Ching-kuo IOTL as the successor to his father as the President of the ROC fought corruption and brought in the native Han population of Tiawan into the government, while easing out the members of the KMT who came with Chiang Kai-shek after the victory of the CCP.
With the end of the Civil War and a stable government, China would be a magnet for investments by international corporations seeking both new markets to sell and a place for manufactures to open plants employing workers at low pay.
The price for all of that is going to be land reform so that China can feed itself, a continuing fight against corruption, formal recognition of the independence of Tibet, and most importantly a final Peace Treaty with Korea.
Part 147, Chapter 2668
Chapter Two Thousand Six Hundred Sixty-Eight
10th March 1978
Sonthofen, Bavaria
After months of deliberation, Kiki and Ben had settled on Elene Stella to be their daughter’s name. It would have been Friedrich Eugen in the off chance that she had been born a boy. Elene because Kiki had liked the name with Stella, Latin for Star being Ben’s contribution. It would have been Stella-Polaris, but the Registrar had baulked at that. Apparently, it wasn’t on the approved list. Ben had said that everyone knew that the Registrars and Clerks who recorded the Births and Deaths in the local municipalities considered themselves to be the last bastion preserving German culture. So, it was best not to cross him. Kiki had told him to stop making fun of the man who was just trying to do his job.
With the additions of names that Kiki and Ben had added for personal reasons, her full name was Elene Stella Cecilie Aurora von Hirsch. The newspaper announcement had included mention that Elene was the daughter of the Graf of Oberallgäu with only passing mention of Kiki as the Princess Royal of Germany, which meant that she wouldn’t have to carry the burden of being a Princess from birth. That was something that Kiki was happy about.
Elene, presently in Kiki’s arms, was looking around with unfocused eyes in the manner of all babies. According to a book on early childhood development that Kiki had read had suggested that they saw world as a blur, not having the ability interpret what they were seeing yet. The one thing that Elene was able to focus on was the pendent on a gold chain that Kiki had around her neck. With her left hand, Kiki did her best to take off the necklace before Elene decided she needed to grab ahold of it.
In what had become something of a tradition, a ring or pendent as a gift for a new mother. The births of additional children would result in a new setting. That was why Kiki now had third stone added to her pendent. This one was aquamarine for her youngest daughter, while the bloodstone and jasper were for Nina and Louis that went along with the lapis lazuli for Kiki herself. Because all three of her children had been born in March the Jewelers had simply looked at the literature about which months of the year the stones symbolized and their various alternates.
Ben had told Kiki all about this as she had been in the Hospital in Sonthofen. He had also given her the pendant as they had talked about it and how they were going to introduce Elene to her older siblings. Kiki had also mentioned her conversation with Rea, how it felt as if Elene had been merely waiting for permission to enter the world. That was a key reason why Kiki had made part of Rea’s actual name of Marie Cecilie part Elene’s. She had wanted to include the names of both her closest friends, but though Zella had been touched that she had offered, she had asked her not to. So, Aurora had gotten the mention.
Los Angeles, California
The State Department, Department of Defense, Army Intelligence, CIA, and a whole host of alphabet soup Agencies that most people had never heard of wanted to know what Ritchie found out while he had been in the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea regions. That was sort of expected when you get sent on a fact-finding mission by the President. While there had been a formal debriefing when he had gotten off the plane in New York, they wanted it all in writing. That was why Ritchie was sitting in the sunlight basement of his house with a typewriter wishing that typing was something that he was actually good at. He had dozens of pages of handwritten notes that needed to be transcribed and his procrastination had not helped matters.
He had spent the last few days working on Frankenstein with varying degrees of help from his brothers Bobby and Mario, as well his former partner Big Mike. Bobby had been surprisingly helpful, helping locate parts from some friends of his. Ritchie had accepted that help with the knowledge that he should probably make a point of never running the serial numbers. He figured that he wouldn’t be happy with the result. It was similar situation with the other friends that Bobby had down in Tijuana who could do anything that Ritchie wanted as far as paint, or interior work for a song. What would the San Diego Police have to say about Bobby’s friends if Ritchie asked? He figured that Bobby’s friends would probably be greatly amused by the irony of finding themselves working on an old cop car.
Pushing that aside, Ritchie thought about how he had been tasked with finding the 4th Panzer Division in Northern Ukraine. It wasn’t just the 4th Panzer though. Ritchie had seen elements other Divisions that comprised the German 2nd Army Corps as well. That alone was a huge part of Germany’s peacetime military strength. What else was going on in Belarus and the Baltics? Ritchie knew it wasn’t his job to speculate but it looked to him like the Germans were moving pieces into place so that…
“Keep quiet Kristie, Popa is working!” Ritchie heard Stevie yell at Kristie, defeating the purpose. It sounded like Kristie was smashing something plastic into the concrete wall of the basement. Lucia liked it when he was home because he was able to watch the kids while she was at work. There were two small problems with that. With a bit of annoyance he got up to deal with whatever his kids had gotten into.
10th March 1978
Sonthofen, Bavaria
After months of deliberation, Kiki and Ben had settled on Elene Stella to be their daughter’s name. It would have been Friedrich Eugen in the off chance that she had been born a boy. Elene because Kiki had liked the name with Stella, Latin for Star being Ben’s contribution. It would have been Stella-Polaris, but the Registrar had baulked at that. Apparently, it wasn’t on the approved list. Ben had said that everyone knew that the Registrars and Clerks who recorded the Births and Deaths in the local municipalities considered themselves to be the last bastion preserving German culture. So, it was best not to cross him. Kiki had told him to stop making fun of the man who was just trying to do his job.
With the additions of names that Kiki and Ben had added for personal reasons, her full name was Elene Stella Cecilie Aurora von Hirsch. The newspaper announcement had included mention that Elene was the daughter of the Graf of Oberallgäu with only passing mention of Kiki as the Princess Royal of Germany, which meant that she wouldn’t have to carry the burden of being a Princess from birth. That was something that Kiki was happy about.
Elene, presently in Kiki’s arms, was looking around with unfocused eyes in the manner of all babies. According to a book on early childhood development that Kiki had read had suggested that they saw world as a blur, not having the ability interpret what they were seeing yet. The one thing that Elene was able to focus on was the pendent on a gold chain that Kiki had around her neck. With her left hand, Kiki did her best to take off the necklace before Elene decided she needed to grab ahold of it.
In what had become something of a tradition, a ring or pendent as a gift for a new mother. The births of additional children would result in a new setting. That was why Kiki now had third stone added to her pendent. This one was aquamarine for her youngest daughter, while the bloodstone and jasper were for Nina and Louis that went along with the lapis lazuli for Kiki herself. Because all three of her children had been born in March the Jewelers had simply looked at the literature about which months of the year the stones symbolized and their various alternates.
Ben had told Kiki all about this as she had been in the Hospital in Sonthofen. He had also given her the pendant as they had talked about it and how they were going to introduce Elene to her older siblings. Kiki had also mentioned her conversation with Rea, how it felt as if Elene had been merely waiting for permission to enter the world. That was a key reason why Kiki had made part of Rea’s actual name of Marie Cecilie part Elene’s. She had wanted to include the names of both her closest friends, but though Zella had been touched that she had offered, she had asked her not to. So, Aurora had gotten the mention.
Los Angeles, California
The State Department, Department of Defense, Army Intelligence, CIA, and a whole host of alphabet soup Agencies that most people had never heard of wanted to know what Ritchie found out while he had been in the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea regions. That was sort of expected when you get sent on a fact-finding mission by the President. While there had been a formal debriefing when he had gotten off the plane in New York, they wanted it all in writing. That was why Ritchie was sitting in the sunlight basement of his house with a typewriter wishing that typing was something that he was actually good at. He had dozens of pages of handwritten notes that needed to be transcribed and his procrastination had not helped matters.
He had spent the last few days working on Frankenstein with varying degrees of help from his brothers Bobby and Mario, as well his former partner Big Mike. Bobby had been surprisingly helpful, helping locate parts from some friends of his. Ritchie had accepted that help with the knowledge that he should probably make a point of never running the serial numbers. He figured that he wouldn’t be happy with the result. It was similar situation with the other friends that Bobby had down in Tijuana who could do anything that Ritchie wanted as far as paint, or interior work for a song. What would the San Diego Police have to say about Bobby’s friends if Ritchie asked? He figured that Bobby’s friends would probably be greatly amused by the irony of finding themselves working on an old cop car.
Pushing that aside, Ritchie thought about how he had been tasked with finding the 4th Panzer Division in Northern Ukraine. It wasn’t just the 4th Panzer though. Ritchie had seen elements other Divisions that comprised the German 2nd Army Corps as well. That alone was a huge part of Germany’s peacetime military strength. What else was going on in Belarus and the Baltics? Ritchie knew it wasn’t his job to speculate but it looked to him like the Germans were moving pieces into place so that…
“Keep quiet Kristie, Popa is working!” Ritchie heard Stevie yell at Kristie, defeating the purpose. It sounded like Kristie was smashing something plastic into the concrete wall of the basement. Lucia liked it when he was home because he was able to watch the kids while she was at work. There were two small problems with that. With a bit of annoyance he got up to deal with whatever his kids had gotten into.
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Part 147, Chapter 2669
Chapter Two Thousand Six Hundred Sixty-Nine
28th March 1978
Richthofen Estate, Rural Silesia
All of us are finite.
That was a hard truth about all people as far as he was aware. In his eight and a half decades, Manfred von Richthofen had seen death in all of its many forms. From quick due to accidents or in combat, to dying by inches over the course of several years. He certainly knew which he would prefer if given a choice and if he had found himself facing the latter he would rather put a bullet into his brain than face a lingering death. It was a bit ironic in that was sort of what had happened.
Decades earlier, when Manfred had been a young man he had led what would come to be called JG1, but at the time had been a collection of Squadrons dubbed the Flying Circus. They had regularly flown patrols above six thousand meters long before ideas such as cabin pressurization or oxygen masks were thought of. The cumulative effects of hypoxia on the blood vessels and tissues of the brain had been largely unknown. Of course, back then Manfred, along with all of his comrades would have laughed at the idea. What did it matter that you were hurting yourself in a way that you barely noticed at the time when any one of you could easily be dead this time tomorrow. At least with a cerebral hemorrhage the end came quickly.
Like how he had lived his life, Manfred went out more or less on his own terms. Mathilda was home on Easter Holiday, so she and Ingrid had agreed to take a walk with him to the margins of the forest that surrounded his home. The care of that forest had been the work of his lifetime and it was what he regarded as one of his proudest accomplishments. There were his children who had all left a mark in different ways. He did have the regret of his oldest son Lothar who had never been able to measure up to what he had believed Manfred had demanded of him. If he could do that again, he would have told Lothar that it was unnecessary to do that to himself. Lothar had flown what were now regarded as pioneering airline routes during a time when those had been critical when that was a truly dangerous undertaking. The problem was that was when the Soviet War had been happening. Lothar thought that Manfred had thought that he was sitting it out. The drinking and womanizing had been separate issues. That was what Manfred had actually disapproved of. Helene with her politics. Albrecht might have joined the Navy, but he had exceeded Manfred in every way that was important despite that. Even Sonje Louise and Cecilie had made their own contributions.
It had been during the walk on the margin of the forest. He had been listening to Mathilda and Ingrid singing to the trees waking from winter to be reborn in the springtime, feeling the sun on his face. Then…
Mathilda must have had some inkling of what was going on when she sent Ingrid to get help from the two bodyguards who were accompanying them. One of them was a trained medic. Of course, it was already too late by then. Manfred watched as Mathilda searched his pockets until she found his penknife and gently placed it into his hand.
“Her way of looking out for you?” Käte asked.
“It is what she was raised to believe” Manfred replied, “Feast Hall of the Gods and whatnot.”
They watched as the medic went about his best efforts. Mathilda tried her best to shield Ingrid from what had happened, but the younger girl wasn’t stupid.
“Despite of us our grandchildren turned out to be such lovely people” Käte observed.
“These two are Ilse’s foundlings” Manfred said.
“You try to tell them that” Käte said with a smile. “They are hers, and yours, in every way that counts.”
“Yes” Manfred replied, “I have been accused of indulging them.”
“I would prefer to think that you learned from your mistakes” Käte said.
“I tried” Manfred said.
“And they will never forget you doing that” Käte replied, “In the end, all we are is ideas and memories.”
Manfred looked at the two girls who had been special to him over the last few years. They had their whole lives ahead of them, it was too bad he hadn’t had the chance to tell them farewell…
----------------------------------------------------------------
Ilse knew the instant she saw the look on the face of one of the men she had tasked with watching over her father-in-law that the news was going to be bad. It wasn’t exactly a surprise. The old buzzard had been nearly eighty-six years old. Still, he was the closest thing to a father that Ilse had ever had. It wasn’t really real for her until she saw Manfred being loaded onto a stretcher while surrounded by several members of the Staff who had come to either help or see what was going on.
Looking to the girls, Ilse found that Ingrid was in quite a state while Mathilda was playing the role of big sister hugging the younger girl to try to comfort her. She could see that Mathilda herself was barely holding things together and that as soon as Ilse took control of the situation Mathilda would allow herself to fall apart. This was the sort of thing that no one mentioned was part of motherhood. There were also the things that were going to have to be done after a man of Manfred’s stature died. Ilse would need to call the Emperor himself and tell Friedrich what had happened. Albrecht would need to drop everything return from Danzig where had gone today on business so that he could…
“Where do you want us to take him Ma’am?” One of the men asked Ilse.
“The cooler in the kitchens until the Medical Examiner arrives” Ilse replied. At least Manfred had planned that much.
Then Ilse heard people talking to each other in hushed tones. “Of course, she would know, she’s now the Königin” Ilse overheard and until she heard that, that little detail had not occurred to her.
28th March 1978
Richthofen Estate, Rural Silesia
All of us are finite.
That was a hard truth about all people as far as he was aware. In his eight and a half decades, Manfred von Richthofen had seen death in all of its many forms. From quick due to accidents or in combat, to dying by inches over the course of several years. He certainly knew which he would prefer if given a choice and if he had found himself facing the latter he would rather put a bullet into his brain than face a lingering death. It was a bit ironic in that was sort of what had happened.
Decades earlier, when Manfred had been a young man he had led what would come to be called JG1, but at the time had been a collection of Squadrons dubbed the Flying Circus. They had regularly flown patrols above six thousand meters long before ideas such as cabin pressurization or oxygen masks were thought of. The cumulative effects of hypoxia on the blood vessels and tissues of the brain had been largely unknown. Of course, back then Manfred, along with all of his comrades would have laughed at the idea. What did it matter that you were hurting yourself in a way that you barely noticed at the time when any one of you could easily be dead this time tomorrow. At least with a cerebral hemorrhage the end came quickly.
Like how he had lived his life, Manfred went out more or less on his own terms. Mathilda was home on Easter Holiday, so she and Ingrid had agreed to take a walk with him to the margins of the forest that surrounded his home. The care of that forest had been the work of his lifetime and it was what he regarded as one of his proudest accomplishments. There were his children who had all left a mark in different ways. He did have the regret of his oldest son Lothar who had never been able to measure up to what he had believed Manfred had demanded of him. If he could do that again, he would have told Lothar that it was unnecessary to do that to himself. Lothar had flown what were now regarded as pioneering airline routes during a time when those had been critical when that was a truly dangerous undertaking. The problem was that was when the Soviet War had been happening. Lothar thought that Manfred had thought that he was sitting it out. The drinking and womanizing had been separate issues. That was what Manfred had actually disapproved of. Helene with her politics. Albrecht might have joined the Navy, but he had exceeded Manfred in every way that was important despite that. Even Sonje Louise and Cecilie had made their own contributions.
It had been during the walk on the margin of the forest. He had been listening to Mathilda and Ingrid singing to the trees waking from winter to be reborn in the springtime, feeling the sun on his face. Then…
Mathilda must have had some inkling of what was going on when she sent Ingrid to get help from the two bodyguards who were accompanying them. One of them was a trained medic. Of course, it was already too late by then. Manfred watched as Mathilda searched his pockets until she found his penknife and gently placed it into his hand.
“Her way of looking out for you?” Käte asked.
“It is what she was raised to believe” Manfred replied, “Feast Hall of the Gods and whatnot.”
They watched as the medic went about his best efforts. Mathilda tried her best to shield Ingrid from what had happened, but the younger girl wasn’t stupid.
“Despite of us our grandchildren turned out to be such lovely people” Käte observed.
“These two are Ilse’s foundlings” Manfred said.
“You try to tell them that” Käte said with a smile. “They are hers, and yours, in every way that counts.”
“Yes” Manfred replied, “I have been accused of indulging them.”
“I would prefer to think that you learned from your mistakes” Käte said.
“I tried” Manfred said.
“And they will never forget you doing that” Käte replied, “In the end, all we are is ideas and memories.”
Manfred looked at the two girls who had been special to him over the last few years. They had their whole lives ahead of them, it was too bad he hadn’t had the chance to tell them farewell…
----------------------------------------------------------------
Ilse knew the instant she saw the look on the face of one of the men she had tasked with watching over her father-in-law that the news was going to be bad. It wasn’t exactly a surprise. The old buzzard had been nearly eighty-six years old. Still, he was the closest thing to a father that Ilse had ever had. It wasn’t really real for her until she saw Manfred being loaded onto a stretcher while surrounded by several members of the Staff who had come to either help or see what was going on.
Looking to the girls, Ilse found that Ingrid was in quite a state while Mathilda was playing the role of big sister hugging the younger girl to try to comfort her. She could see that Mathilda herself was barely holding things together and that as soon as Ilse took control of the situation Mathilda would allow herself to fall apart. This was the sort of thing that no one mentioned was part of motherhood. There were also the things that were going to have to be done after a man of Manfred’s stature died. Ilse would need to call the Emperor himself and tell Friedrich what had happened. Albrecht would need to drop everything return from Danzig where had gone today on business so that he could…
“Where do you want us to take him Ma’am?” One of the men asked Ilse.
“The cooler in the kitchens until the Medical Examiner arrives” Ilse replied. At least Manfred had planned that much.
Then Ilse heard people talking to each other in hushed tones. “Of course, she would know, she’s now the Königin” Ilse overheard and until she heard that, that little detail had not occurred to her.
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We knew it was coming in theory.
That was handled excellently, in my opinion, precisely the right tone for the character.
Bravo @Peabody-Martini
That was outstanding.
That was handled excellently, in my opinion, precisely the right tone for the character.
Bravo @Peabody-Martini
That was outstanding.
Hoyahoo9
Donor
I've been dreading/expecting the passing of the greatest of the old lions. Your beautifully crafted last scene lived up to the very best of your work (which is saying something, given how consistently great this timeline has been over the years). Farewell, Manfred.
Is it getting blurry in here, or is it just me? . . . .
Another well written and heartfelt passage from this Author.
From the earliest days of aviation when airplanes were made of wood, cloth, bailing wire, and dope, to supersonic jets, to probes hurtling their way through space beyond the Solar System, Manfred von Richthofen has one way, or another has been directly or indirectly involved with one of the greatest leaps in technology in history.
Now comes one of the greatest funerals in history as many people and institutions want to honor the Man and the Legend.
This is going to be front page news around the world, and practically every news broadcast will lead off with the Death of the Red Baron.
Zella should have prepared a documentary that is ready to air on ARD on the Life of Manfred von Richthofen, and with Zella being able to speak fluently in several languages, ARD can make a few bucks by selling the program to networks in other countries.
Look for editorial cartoons around the world showing Snoopy in his flight helmet and goggles, with a tear in his eyes saying, "Bless You, Red Baron' while giving a salute while the cartoon artists have "With apologies to Schultz" beneath their signature.
From the earliest days of aviation when airplanes were made of wood, cloth, bailing wire, and dope, to supersonic jets, to probes hurtling their way through space beyond the Solar System, Manfred von Richthofen has one way, or another has been directly or indirectly involved with one of the greatest leaps in technology in history.
Now comes one of the greatest funerals in history as many people and institutions want to honor the Man and the Legend.
This is going to be front page news around the world, and practically every news broadcast will lead off with the Death of the Red Baron.
Zella should have prepared a documentary that is ready to air on ARD on the Life of Manfred von Richthofen, and with Zella being able to speak fluently in several languages, ARD can make a few bucks by selling the program to networks in other countries.
Look for editorial cartoons around the world showing Snoopy in his flight helmet and goggles, with a tear in his eyes saying, "Bless You, Red Baron' while giving a salute while the cartoon artists have "With apologies to Schultz" beneath their signature.
